Hi all! Let me briefly introduce myself. My name is Aaron and I'm a total newbie when it comes to photography.

I've had the itch to get into photography as a hobby for at least a year, and I finally decided to act upon it this week. I just received my brand new Canon Rebel XTi w/kit lens earlier this week. As one might expect, I've got a few questions:

1.) I need a solution for the neck strap. I find the stock strap adequately comfortable, but I need an easier way to put it on/take it off. As it stands, it's a pain in the butt to do either. I like the strap, but I don't want it on there all the time. Any solutions out there to this? I'd prefer a solution that simply modifies the existing strap, as I really do like it.

2.) Gotta find a solution to carry this thing around. I don't plan on going crazy with lens. Heck, I had a hard enough time justifying this $750 purchase to my wife--I can only imagine trying to explain I need another $200-400. My point is, I don't need anything with a ton of room. I just need something that's going to provide adequate protection, but is relatively compact. And I'd prefer something that doesn't look goofy. Style would be a plus.

3.) Speaking of lens, I do plan on getting one more. I'm going to pick up the Canon f/1.8 50(55?)mm lens to get some cool DoF shots going on. Any thoughts on this lens? It's so cheap compared to most, I figure it would be crazy to NOT have it.

4.) I've picked up the book "Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D Digital Field Guide". So far, it's been OK. It's nice that it explains things in respect to my specific camera, but it doesn't seem to explain the photography basics as clear as I'd like. I need something that explains the basics to me very clearly. I hear the book [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/032147404X/ref=wl_it_dp/102-7366660-8375313?ie=UTF8&coliid=IV4JD07PKEKL0&colid=1FJLD7N4EAPL1"]"The Digital Photography Book"[/ame] is pretty good. I hear [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0817463003/ref=wl_it_dp/102-7366660-8375313?ie=UTF8&coliid=IQEF8HVFS8RLG&colid=1FJLD7N4EAPL1"]"Understanding Exposure"[/ame] is pretty good as well. Any thoughts on either of these?

5.) Any Mac users out there? If so, surely there must be some Aperture users out there too. I can get a pretty good deal on it through an educational discount (despite graduating college 2 years ago--go figure).

Is Aperture overkill for your average amateur photographer? Would it (or should it) replace iPhoto?

I suppose that's it for now. Any other thoughts/advice are welcome. My Mom (who is a K-5 teacher at a private school) gave allowed me to take some pics of their Kindergarten and 8th grade graduation last night. I pretty much stayed in Full Auto the whole time unfortunately, although I did try several times to go into a Creative Zone mode. I wasn't getting results that I was happy with, so I just left it on full auto.

I'd like to get some suggestions on how I could have made a few of these shots better. Would this go into the Critique forum?

1.) I need a solution for the neck strap. I find the stock strap adequately comfortable, but I need an easier way to put it on/take it off. As it stands, it's a pain in the butt to do either. I like the strap, but I don't want it on there all the time. Any solutions out there to this? I'd prefer a solution that simply modifies the existing strap, as I really do like it.

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Guess what, I am an SLR photographer for over a decade now, and I had the same problem right from the beginning, and never ever did anything about it stupid me.. Anyway, I think you can find neck straps from various companies.. I guess there should be some with a quick release.

2.) Gotta find a solution to carry this thing around. I don't plan on going crazy with lens. Heck, I had a hard enough time justifying this $750 purchase to my wife--I can only imagine trying to explain I need another $200-400. My point is, I don't need anything with a ton of room. I just need something that's going to provide adequate protection, but is relatively compact. And I'd prefer something that doesn't look goofy. Style would be a plus.

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Currently one of my smaller bags is a lowepro rezo 190 (?) - something. it is small, has lots of space for its size (I use it for a dSLR and two mid-sized lenses plus hoods). And it is fairly cheap (not built like a tank though)

3.) Speaking of lens, I do plan on getting one more. I'm going to pick up the Canon f/1.8 50(55?)mm lens to get some cool DoF shots going on. Any thoughts on this lens? It's so cheap compared to most, I figure it would be crazy to NOT have it.

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I have the 50mm f/1.4 and I am very happy with it. But people seem to be fairly happy with the 1.8 as well!

4.) I've picked up the book "Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D Digital Field Guide". So far, it's been OK. It's nice that it explains things in respect to my specific camera, but it doesn't seem to explain the photography basics as clear as I'd like. I need something that explains the basics to me very clearly. I hear the book "The Digital Photography Book" is pretty good. I hear "Understanding Exposure" is pretty good as well. Any thoughts on either of these?

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never been a book person, sorry.

wikipedia can help as well.

5.) Any Mac users out there? If so, surely there must be some Aperture users out there too. I can get a pretty good deal on it through an educational discount (despite graduating college 2 years ago--go figure).

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hm, ever considered bibble pro? works on windows, linux, and on mac ... i like it.

ok, guys, i know i mention this bibble thing way too often, but I am not payed by them

Is Aperture overkill for your average amateur photographer? Would it (or should it) replace iPhoto?

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If you shoot RAW, a decent RAW converter (and that is what aperture is mainly IMHO) makes sense.

I'd like to get some suggestions on how I could have made a few of these shots better. Would this go into the Critique forum?

First creative zome you should try is the "P" mode. If all the shots ar etoo dark, it IS the firs tmode where you have to set your ISO so hit the up directional arrow and jack the ISO up till you are getting nicer shutter speeds. If you need a flash, hit the left arrow button and set white balance to flash, then pop the flash up with the little button near it, still better than auto. If you stop using flash return white balance to auto, or better yet, read online how to set up custom white balance.

#2 Bags are something IMHO that you just have to go to the store and look at.Although if you dont have much gear and not planning on expanding much than really any medium sized bag should do nicely as long as it has modular dividers inside.
#3 again lenses depend on what type of shooting you are doing.you will usually figure out pretty quick what kind of lens you should get next after you shoot for a month or two the 50mm 1.8 seems to be very popular due to its price,Image quality,and large aperture.I had a 50mm 1.4 but used it very little.
#4 I have read Understanding exposure and it helped me grasp exposure better than any other book.I also have Digital SLR Photography Solutions and it was pretty informative also.It details alot of the functions of an Slr you may not know exsist as well as alot of Basic fundamentals of photography.
#5 I cant give any opinion here as I would just look at a mac like a monkey doing chinese arithmatic

I have a copy of understanding exposure and even have a fairly nice camera bag just laying around, and would make you an awesome deal on them if you want them.Just LMK